SLS alumnus Michael Mongan was appointed to serve as the solicitor general for the state. The announcement of the appointment was made by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, JD ’84, on July 19, 2019. Mongan assumed the position of the state’s top appellate lawyer in August. In the role, Mongan oversees civil and criminal appeals for the Office of the Solicitor General and develops the state’s legal responses to policies backed by the president’s administration.

Prior to the appointment, Mongan served as the deputy solicitor general for the California Department of Justice, working on a wide range of issues. Earlier in his career, he practiced at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco for four years, focusing on complex civil litigation and appeals. Also, he clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter. Mongan served as counsel for former Vice President Joe Biden during the first two years of the Obama administration.